To get Duplicolour, you'll need to go to an automotive shop, such as those Tally suggested. It's one of the better rattle can paints ... well, it used to be.

Make sure you mix it very well. Keep shaking until you are well and truly sick of it and then keep going. Failing to do so results in an uneven spray from what is already a pretty mediocre quality spray. Warming the can in a pan of warm water also helps - NOT boiling, these cans are under pressure remember.

Be warned that rattle cans do not produce a real good job - expect uneveness and runs. Only very skilled or very lucky users avoid those problems and frames are a nasty thing to paint because of all the curves and chances of overspray getting on newly painted work. Put it on light, a dust coat to start with, then (in the same session), build it up. As you finish, you'll need to put it on wet ie, glossy and wet looking, to get a gloss finish, but if you put too much on, you'll get runs - there's a fine line between the two and you don't know you've gone too far until you see the runs.

This isn't to say that you shouldn't use rattle cans - there's not a lot of sense in buying spray equiptment and learning how to use it for one frame. I'm just warning you not to expect superb results. I'm tempted to suggest that careful brush work with a good quality brush might be a better option.

europa wrote:To get Duplicolour, you'll need to go to an automotive shop, such as those Tally suggested. It's one of the better rattle can paints ... well, it used to be. ...This isn't to say that you shouldn't use rattle cans - there's not a lot of sense in buying spray equiptment and learning how to use it for one frame. I'm just warning you not to expect superb results. I'm tempted to suggest that careful brush work with a good quality brush might be a better option.

Richard

Fod for thought! I'm prepared to give it a go, I found the bike by the side of the road and I'm not going to bling it out, unless I decide I really like hving a single speed!

Autobarn didn't have a good range of colours in rattle cans, except for in acrilyic Australian made made by Holt. The cans are laebelled as touch up paint. They had the exact colours I want, but I am not convinced that these wil dry very hard.

No enamel is going to dry hard, and they'll take months to achieve any sort of hardness. For a truly hard finish you need a two pack polyeurethane - now THAT's good paint, highly toxic, amazingly expensive and as hard as the hobs of hang. Very easy to spray too, but you need the right gear.

Give whatever you can find a go. If you muck up the paint work, either by scratching it (which you will) or in the application, at least you'll have some experience for next attempt.

I'm afraid I can't offer any feedback on Holt, or even Duplicolour for that matter - it's been years since I gave up on spray cans and bought a compressor.

Who is online

About the Australian Cycling Forums

The largest cycling discussion forum in Australia for all things bike; from new riders to seasoned bike nuts, the Australian Cycling Forums are a welcoming community where you can ask questions and talk about the type of bikes and cycling topics you like.